You didn't know "Tiger" was a name he got in prison?
As far as we're aware, Tiger Woods has committed no crimes. The man cheated on his wife with a bunch of skanks, but he didn't slap anybody up or rob anyone's grandma. And yet the cover of Vanity Fair's February 2010 issue, which features an old Annie Liebovitz photograph of Tiger pumping iron in a skullcap, makes it look like he's a convicted felon getting swoll in the yard. Is it a metaphor for the way he's been boxed in my the media? Maybe, but it's more likely a race-baiting editorial ploy to get attention when black people, tired of having their heroes torn down and disrespected, protest. It's as simple and black and white—magazines have never been afraid to exploit sensitive issues of race to sell a couple issues. Check out more covers that have done their best to start a race riot.
VOGUE, APRIL 2008
• If the goal of art is to stir people up, Annie Liebovitz is doin' the damn thing! Before the Vanity Fair Tiger scandal, she shot this Vogue cover, which made LeBron James look like a roaring, chest-thumping, white-woman-grabbing King Kong stereotype of a black man. You can understand why people went ape shit over it.
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THE NEW YORKER, JULY 2008
• In the middle of the presidential campaign, with Republicans trying to paint Christian candidate Barack Obama as a Muslim who sympathized with terrorists, The New Yorker put out this cartoon cover satirizing the dirty politics. Note to editors: People don't always get satire.
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GOLFWEEK, JANUARY 2008
• When the Golf Channel suspended anchor Kelly Tilghman for joking that opponents would have to "lynch [Tiger Woods] in a back alley" to beat him, Golfweek editor and vice president Dave Seanor decided it would be a brilliant idea to throw a noose on the cover. Angry readers and advertisers told him to choke, and perhaps Seanor did when Golfweek told him to grab his putter and little white balls and get the hell out.
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TIME, JUNE 27, 1994
• Time editors blacked the fuck out when they darkened O.J. Simpson's mugshot on this cover to make him look more menacing, implying that he was guilty of murder before he'd had a trial (Newsweek ran the same photo without manipulating it). In response to the uproar, Time pulled the cover and replaced it with a less incendiary version (above right). Too late. We'd already seen the heart of darkness.
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NEWSWEEK, JUNE 2009
• Oprah Winfrey is a hugely successful black woman who influences people of all backgrounds to do positive things like read books and be charitable. Or, if you're Newsweek, she's a crazy lady who smokes a lot of rock.
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SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, MARCH 11, 2002
• Anything that links professional athletes to slaves is bound to offend, whether it's sports betting icon Jimmy the Greek saying that blacks are superior athletes because their slave ancestors were bred to be strong and fast, or hoops star Larry Johnson comparing playing (and making millions of dollars) in the NBA to slavery. One thing SI's depiction of Sir Charles as a runaway slave did illustrate—bad judgment.
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MAD, SEPTEMBER 2008, FEBRUARY 2009
• Satirical though it may have been, Mad implying that Barack Obama had no chance to win the 2008 presidential election, and then depicting him buckling under the pressure of the office may have been a little too soon. Seriously, cut a black man some slack! Old white men have been fucking up this country for centuries!
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Ria January 5th, 2010 at 07:28 PM
Interesting read. Not sure if I agree with the Tiger one; from what I understand, Annie shot it well before his scandal, and her intent was to show a tougher, less "golf-nerd" side of him. Either way he looks a mess. Let's talk about Complex's covers too, shall we? From the standard half-nude, sweating woman, to the sensationalistic sexual overtones in the headlines, it kinda sounds like the pot calling the kettle black here. Replace race with misogyny and it's practically the same article. (Yes, I consider the sexual objectification of female humans misogynistic.)
LKM January 5th, 2010 at 08:21 PM
I hadn't seen most of these covers and some of them are shocking to me. They make me think we have come a long way and have a long way to go. With regard to Ria's comment about the Tiger Woods cover, it's true that the pics were likely shot before the scandal broke but VF has the option to use or not to use any given cover. Okay who am I kidding - any PR is good PR with regard to a covergirl/guy and if Tiger Woods present infamy will sell a few more copies of VF based on the cover, then I'm sure it's all good and then some with VF.
damn January 5th, 2010 at 09:52 PM
the second mad cover really has nothing to do with obama. it just shows how much bush fucked up the country and left it to the next guy to deal with it
Bax January 5th, 2010 at 11:20 PM
Who is responsible for this article? It is naive to think that the celebrities who are pictured in these: tiger, oprah, sir charles, did this without the thought of personal gain. Granted the tiger covershoot was taken out of context, photographed over two years ago, but this is just irresponsible literature, something i would not have expected from complex, leave politics to those solely dedicated to it, i cant wait to see future covers of agent zero...
thatdrop.com January 6th, 2010 at 02:48 AM
man all these are all amazing points. Sh*ts kinda craze. Stay tuned people.
nate January 6th, 2010 at 06:45 AM
I think the mad one with him buckling under pressure was more a reference to the immense problems he had waiting for him following his election rather than him being unable to cope because he was black... If anything it's more about the mess Bush left him to clean up ><
dimmy January 6th, 2010 at 07:26 AM
You're reaching with the Tiger/Oprah/Obama covers. Never seen the Barkley one before though. What was dude thinking?
Kevin Orban January 8th, 2010 at 09:28 PM
I was curious if anyone has tried this Sports Handicapping Service? I discovered his video on Youtube and it turns out the service is sold through clickbank which means it comes with a 60 day money back guarantee. Was wondering what peoples thoughts were.
joe rock January 12th, 2010 at 02:15 PM
Half of these covers ain't racist, at least assuming that putting a bad word about a black person is not racist. I could provide thousands pics like that with white people on it and they could be as racist as these ones. get a grip complex and don't blow some things out of proportion...